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Income and wealth of India's top 1% at historical high: Report

The income share of top 1% is among the very highest in the world, higher than even South Africa, Brazil and US, a report by World Inequality Lab said.

March 20, 2024 / 02:17 pm IST
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The report claimed that between 2014-15 and 2022-23, the rise of top-end inequality, when it comes to wealth concentrations, has been significantly high.

The shares of income and wealth of India’s top 1% at 22.6% and 40.1% respectively is at their “highest historical levels” in 2022-23, beating even developed economies such as the US, according to a paper released by the World Inequality Lab.

The paper, co-authored by economists Nitin Kumar Bharti, Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, and Anmol Somanchi, said the country reached its historical highs in the last financial year. Naming the paper, the “Billionaire Raj”, the authors claimed that the country was now more unequal than even the British Raj.

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Post-independence era saw the income and wealth gap decline till the early 1980s after which “it began rising and has skyrocketed since the early 2000s”, the report said.

It also claimed that between 2014-15 and 2022-23, the rise of top-end inequality, when it comes to wealth concentrations, has been significantly high. One of the major issue on policy level has been the country’s taxation system. The paper said as per the suggestive evidence, “Indian income tax system might be regressive when viewed from the lens of net wealth.”